Johann Sebastian Bach would have turned 328 this year. And while he rests peacefully under the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, his music is still constantly performed around the world. Some performers choose to be as historically accurate as possible, while others do not. This begs the question: do ahistorical performances of Bach's compositions “ruin” his work, or is his music indestructible?
This question spawned from a comment made by Canadian Opera Company Orchestra principal violist and CBC Music Next! artist of 2013, Keith Hamm: "I love playing and listening to Bach. No matter what the venue or who is playing — whether it’s a violist, a jazz band, a choir, a rock band, or Tafelmusik— it always sounds amazing to me.”
In an attempt to understand Hamm's point of view, let’s examine five versions of Bach's Keyboard Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052.
Trevor Pinnock with the English Concert
This recording was made using baroque instruments, designed and tuned to replicate what a performance might have sounded like in Bach's lifetime.
Glenn Gould with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic
Though the piano did not yet exist during Bach’s life, many performers of the 19th century (among them Brahms and Mendelssohn) began to perform his music on the precursor to the modern piano.
Bogdan Bacanu and Christoph Sietzen with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg
American Leigh Howard Stevens began performing and recording Bach on the marimba roughly 30 years ago; the practice has since become popular worldwide.
Jacques Loussier Trio
Jacques Loussier’s popularity and legacy over the last half-century is largely due to his creative reinterpretations of Bach’s music, here with his jazz trio.
Bach on synth
We might call this arrangement of BWV 1052 a concerto for synthesizer and, well, more synthesizer.
There is no doubt that Bach’s music remains a source of creativity for many musicians today, on all instruments and in all genres.
What do you think? Are you a purist, who believes that the performance of Bach’s music is best left to those who specialize and perform on period instruments? Or do some of these reinterpretations resonate with you? Let us know in the comments.
Related:
Angela Hewitt's Essential Bach